PWG has been announcing several names for their upcoming Battle of Los Angeles tournament over the past few days. Two of the most intriguing competitors confirmed for the prestigious tournament are UK independent stars Chris Brookes and Jody Fleisch.
Chris Brookes is one of the most in demand stars on the UK circuit right now, his hugely successful run alongside Kid Lykos in #CCK has seen him catapulted into the ranks of PROGRESS wrestling’s main event scene and he was tipped as one of the favourites to win the Super Strong Style 16 tournament, unfortunately losing in an incredible bout against NXT Superstar Kassius Ohno. Since Lyko’s most recent injury Brookes has once again been establishing himself as a legitimate singles star and this inclusion in the BOLA is a testament to his abilities as an in-ring competitor.
Jody Fleisch is a severely underrated veteran from the UK independent scene, the ‘Phoenix’ has been wowing UK and European crowds since his debut in 1997 and he has gone on to appear for companies across the globe including Ring of Honor, TNA/IMPACT, IPW:UK, XWA, ICW, 5* and Rev Pro. Fleisch’s athletic abilities are going to finally be showcased at one of the biggest tournaments in independent wrestling.
Other names already confirmed for the tournament include PCO, Brody King, Ilja Dragunov, Robbie Eagles, Joey Janela, Puma King, David Starr and Rey Horus.
Chris Brookes is the tenth entrant in the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles!
UK based promotion DEFIANT Wrestling has announced the competitors for their upcoming ‘Ringmaster’ tournament taking place on July 16th/17th from the O2 Academy in Newcastle, England.
The company has described the ‘Ringmaster’ as follows: “featuring 16 competitors, the tournament will feature stars we have never seen before in Defiant, stars we haven’t seen for a while, and stars we see often!”
The full lineup for the tournament is as follows:
Adam Brooks
Bad Bones
BT Gunn
David Starr
Kay Lee Ray
Curtis Chapman
Kyle Fletcher (of Aussie Open)
Mark Davis (of Aussie Open)
Martin Kirby
Matt Riddle
Millie McKenzie
Nathan Cruz
Omari
Simon Miller
Stevie Boy
TK Cooper
With the recent announcement of the NXT UK brand and the news that WWE contacted talent cannot be featured on streaming services across the UK it is testament to the depth of talent that the United Kingdom scene has when looking at this stacked tournament.
The event will be available to purchase either on the FITE app or on DEFIANT’s Access On Demand service which available for $8.99 per month.
Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be taking on one of the hottest Independent talents on the planet when he faces WALTER at the first night of the Shotgun Live Tour.
Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld in Cologne will play host to this veritable independent dream match between two of both PROGRESS/wXw’s biggest stars.
This will not be the first wXw opponent that Dunne will face this year, the WWE UK Champion has been booked for a bout against wXw Unified World Champion Ilja Dragunov at the Wembley Arena show on September 30th in a match that will determine who the best wrestler in Europe truly is.
If you’ve never heard of WALTER then he is certainly a performer that should be on your radar. The Austrian powerhouse has been dominating the Tag and Heavyweight divisions in wXw, PROGRESS and PWG over the past couple of years and he is now being slated as a future WWE/NXT signee (even if he denies any sort of negotiations). The de-facto leader of the Ringkampf stable (alongside Timothy Thatcher and previously NXT roster member Axel Dieter Jr) has a ton of potential on the world stage and has already garnered critical praise from the likes of Dave Meltzer, who gave his PWG All-Star Weekend bout against Zack Sabre Jr from October 2017 a 5 star rating.
PROGRESS has announced the 7th and potentially final bout for their upcoming 72nd Chapter event ‘Got Got Need’ which takes place this Sunday 24th from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.
Former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and the 1st ever British Born winner of the BOSJ tournament Will Ospreay will be facing NXT UK Superstar Jordan Devlin.
This announcement follows the news that PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks will be defending his title against the ‘World Cup’ winner Chuck Mambo. Banks recently took part in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament and is scheduled to be part of the NXT UK roster going forward.
Devlin has also been announced for a bout against Naoki Tanizaki at the upcoming Fight Club: Pro ‘International Tekkers’ show. The Dragon Gate veteran (Tanizaki) will be taking part in a run across the UK shore sagainst the likes of Mark Haskins (Frontline Puro) and Chris Brookes (RIPTIDE) and this bout against Devlin should be dynamite.
Pro Wrestling Guerilla has announced that top European independent star and wXw Unified Heavyweight Champion Ilja Dragunov will be taking part in the upcoming Battle of Los Angeles tournament.
Dragunov became the wXw Champion during the company’s 16 Carat Gold 2018 event back in March of this year, he defeated then Champion John Klinger and WWE linked star WALTER in an incredible bout that headlined day two of the tournament. This marked the return of Dragunov to the company and he received a thunderous reception from the wXw fanbase.
Dragunov is also scheduled to face WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne as part of PROGRESS’ biggest ever show this September at Wembley Arena. Promoter of Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) Christian Michael Jakobi appeared during PROGRESS Wrestling’s Super Strong Style 16 event recently and challenged the reigning WWE UK Champion to a bout against the wXw World United Heavyweight Champion.
Other names already announced for the tournament include PCO, Brody King and UK independent wrestling legend Jody Fleisch.
Ilja Dragunov is the fourth entrant in the 2018 Battle of Los Angeles!
Top UK independent star Eddie Dennis has been revealed as one of the new NXT UK roster members. The Welsh Superstar appeared on the entrance ramp during last night’s taping at the Royal Albert Hall to the shock of many eagle-eyed fans of the UK independent scene.
Dennis had not been made official for the NXT UK division however he was one of the names heavily rumored for a move to the new WWE project, he now appears to be set for the upcoming tapings starting at Cambridge in July.
Some of the more prominent promotions that Dennis has appeared for in the past few years include Revolution Pro (Rev Pro), ATTACK!, RIPTIDE and of course PROGRESS. One of the most gripping and talked about feuds in the UK scene right now features Dennis against his longtime tag team partner and 205 Live Superstar Mark Andrews. Eddie has been following Andrews across the world demanding that he face him in the ring and Andrews has refused to accept the challenge and fight his former friend; it is expected that the match will eventually be taking place at PROGRESS’ upcoming show in Wembley Arena (September) however PROGRESS has not yet made this official in any capacity.
July 6th I walked away from the headship of a school chasing a dream
January 13th I ruptured my pectoral chasing said dream
PROGRESS has announced the latest bout for their upcoming Chapter 72 event ‘Got Got Need’ which takes place on June 24th from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.
Newly crowned NXT Tag Team Champions Moustache Mountain (Tyler Bate & Trent Seven) will be joining their British Strong Style stablemate and WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne to take on Josh Alexander and the Besties In The World.
Tyler Bate & Trent Seven won the NXT Tag Team Titles in a bout against the Undisputed Era’s Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong at yesterday’s Royal Albert Hall taping, it was unexpected title change considering the announcement that the NXT UK brand would have their own Tag Team Championships and the crowd reaction was massive.
Other bouts already confirmed for the show include:
ATLAS Championship Match – Doug Williams (c) vs Michael Dante
NPS Final – Chris Ridgeway vs Mark Davis
PROGRESS World Title Match – Travis Banks (c) vs Chuck Mambo
WWE Hall of Famer and one of the most decorated tag team performers in the history of the industry Bubba Ray Dudley recently made some comments on the fan support for WWE Smackdown Live competitor Becky Lynch.
Becky appeared at the Money In The Bank PPV this past Sunday as one of the Women’s roster Superstars competing in the MITB match. Bubba Ray’s comments on Becky were reflecting the huge fan reaction to the ‘Lass Kicker,’ he stated that “Every time she climbed that ladder, those people were on their feet. They’re invested in her, they wanted to see her win. Hopefully the people in the back are listening.” WWE Raw Superstar Alexa Bliss eventually won the bout and cashed in her Championship opportunity later that night successfully against Nia Jax.
Do you feel that Becky Lynch is a Superstar that WWE should be doing more with? Should she be the next challenger for Carmella’s Smackdown Live Women’s Championship? Let us know your comments below.
Independent promotion Chikara has begun announcing the teams for their upcoming ‘King of Trios’ tournament. King of Trios is Chikara’s biggest event and the annual extravaganza has been a staple of the promotion since 2007.
One of the announced teams, dubbed ‘The Nexus Alliance’ will see former WWE Superstars Darren Young, Justin Gabriel and Michael Tarver team for the first time since their run as part of the Nexus stable in WWE.
Justin Gabriel (now known as PJ Black) has arguably been the most active member of the team since his departure from WWE in 2015, having appeared for the likes of Global Force Wrestling, IMPACT, Lucha Underground and UK promotions such as XWA UK, IPW:UK, Rev Pro, 5* and PCW.
Darren Young took part in his final WWE match in October of 2017 at a house show teaming with Curt Hawkins in a losing effort against Goldust and Titus O’Neill. The former WWE Superstar’s only other recognised independent appearance this year came at Big Time Wrestling in May.
Michael Tarver’s last independent appearance came in January for Brain Buster Pro Wrestling where he won their Heavyweight Championship.
King of Trios is set to begin on Labour Day weekend.
PROGRESS has announced that their ATLAS Championship will be defended at their upcoming Chapter 72 event ‘Got Got Need’ from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.
Reigning Champion and British Wrestling Legend Doug Williams will be defending his belt against Michael Dante. Fans who aren’t aware of Dante will most likely know his former tag team partner from the Sumerian Death Squad…Aleister Black.
Dante earned his opportunity to challenge Williams at Chapter 71 when he defeated Damien Corvin. Williams himself became the Heavyweight/’Big Lads’ division Champion at Chapter 69 ‘Be Here Now’ when he defeated WWE UK star Joesph Conners, Rampage Brown and Rob Lynch in a fatal four way match.
This announcement follows the news that PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks will be defending his title against the ‘World Cup’ winner Chuck Mambo. Banks recently took part in the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament and is likely going to be part of the UK roster going forward however this has not yet been confirmed.
New Japan Pro Wrestling will be presenting the third night of their Kizuna Road tour tomorrow (6/18) live from Japan’s historic Korakuen Hall. Day Two featured the end of the shortest NEVER Openweight title run ever when Hirooki Goto defeated Michael Elgin and reclaimed his belt. New Japan also announced the full lineup for their upcoming G1 Climax tournament this summer and you can find the full lineup right here.
Here’s the full lineup for Night 3:
Kizuna Road Night #3 Monday, June 18th, 2018 Tokyo, Japan
Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemura
Ren Narita and Shota Umino vs Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi
Tomoyuki Oka and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
Ryusuke Taguchi, Toa Henare, David Finlay, and Togi Makabe vs Sho, Yoh, Yoshi-Hashi and Toru Yano
Bushi, Evil, Sanada, and Tetsuya Naito vs Taka Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, and Takashi Iizuka
Kushida, Jeff Cobb, Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Gedo, Tomohiro Ishii, Jay White, Hirooki Goto, and Kazuchika Okada
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs El Desperado
Night 4 of the Kizuna Road tour will be extremely special as it will feature the Super Strong Machine Retirement Ceremony with Los Ingobernables de Japon in the main event against Machine Ace, Machine Buffalo, Machine Justice, Machine Don and Machine Number 69.
Check back here on SEScoops for the full Day 4 preview tomorrow.
The UK Wrestling Media Con will be taking place on September 8th/9th from the Bowlers Exhibition Centre in Manchester, England. Several big names from the international wrestling scene have already been announced and now one of the most intriguing personalities to be brought in has been revealed.
WWE Hall of Famer Pat Patterson will be making his “His first ever public appearances in the UK” when he heads to the convention in September. Patterson is one of the most well respected senior members of the WWE backstage staff, he was the first ever Intercontinental Champion and is heralded as the creator of the Royal Rumble match. This will certainly not be an event to miss if you’re a fan in the North of England.
Other names already confirmed for the Convention include New Japan Pro Wrestling commentator Don Callis, NWA Champion Nick Aldis, Wrestling With Regret’s Brian Zane, Dave Meltzer, Sean ‘X-PAC’ Waltman as well as the stars of Wrestle Talk TV, Cultaholic and Botchamania’s Maffew.
Full live shows from both IMPACT and Revolution Pro Wrestling (Rev Pro) will be available for ticket holders as well as special guest bouts from the likes of DEFIANT, NWA and NGW.
Tickets for the Wrestling Media Con are available to purchase here.
Our next guest for MediaCon is one of the most respected names in wrestling history…His first EVER public appearances in the UK. The first IC Champion and father of the Royal Rumble match…PAT PATTERSON. Come along Sept 8/9 in Manchester. Tickets from https://t.co/HKBmJ3wAG1pic.twitter.com/gGvTIHGgIm
— Wrestling MediaCon (@WrestlingMediaC) June 17, 2018
Germany’s top independent promotion Westwide Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) has announced the first four teams for their upcoming World Tag Team League 2018 tournament which takes place October 5th-7th from Turbinhalle, Oberhausen. The teams are as follows:
Daichi Hashimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani (Big Japan)
Aussie Open (PROGRESS, Rev Pro, Attack! and Fight Club: Pro)
CCK (PROGRESS, Rev Pro, Attack! and Fight Club: Pro)
Rey Fenix and Penta El Zero M (Lucha Underground and IMPACT)
For longtime readers of the UK/European sections of the site Aussie Open will not be a unfamiliar name. We added them to our ‘Top 3 Emerging Tag Teams on the UK Scene’ list back in February; comprising Kyle Fletcher and Mark Davis, Aussie Open are one of the most dynamic and exciting teams to emerge from the UK scene in the past year. Having first formed in the ATTACK! promotion back in August they have been challenging for titles in the likes of HOPE, Rev Pro, IPW:UK and CZW which is an absolute testament to their talent and ability to gel so quickly as a unit. Aussie Open have a strong big man/little man dynamic almost akin to that of an early Hart Foundation, the stacked Mark Davis provides a powerful hot tag whilst teammate Kyle Fletcher has an agile flair to his in ring approach.
Tickets for the show are available to purchase now from wXw-Shop.com
WWE has released a short video on their official YouTube channel which shows some ‘behind the scenes’ footage from the ‘Ultimate Deletion’ shoot earlier this year.
In a promotional short for tonight’s ‘WWE 24: The Hardys: Woken’ former TNA/IMPACT Wrestling on screen personality and producer Jeremy Borash is shown describing the filming concept behind the Broken/Woken segments. One of the more interesting takes from the video includes this statement from Borash; “If it fits in TNA, great. If it doesn’t fit in TNA then we’ll take it somewhere else. Obviously it found the best home it could, to have the most eyeballs which is WWE.”
One of WWE’s senior figures Michael Hayes is also present in the video, where he discusses the ‘drone’ portion of the original TNA concept with both Borash and Matt Hardy, claiming that “If we don’t do more than what you guys did we’ll all be in trouble” (alluding to Vince McMahon expecting ‘more’ than the original concept).
The WWE 24 Network special on the Hardys will be released tonight immediately following Money In The Bank. You can check out the preview video below:
Former WWE Undisputed and 9-time Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho defeated ‘Los Ingobernables’ leader Tetsuya Naito at last weekend’s Dominion show to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion.
New Japan’s newest IC Champion has recently stated that he will not be taking part in some upcoming US events both for NJPW and Cody Rhodes/The Young Bucks. During an interview with Inside The Ropes he claimed that “I got asked to do Long Beach, I said no. I got asked to do Cow Palace, I said no. I got asked to do All In, I said no. I’m not going to work anywhere else unless you wanna pay six f******g figures. This is Mayweather-McGregor type s**t for me.”
Dave Meltzer also confirmed that Jericho will not be returning to New Japan for quite some time during a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio show, he stated that there would be (when asked about upcoming NJPW events) “No Jericho. In fact there’s no Jericho for a long, long time. It’s really interesting they put the IC title on him, because now that title’s gonna be iced for a long long time.”
What do you think about Jericho only appearing sporadically for NJPW whilst IC Champion? Let us know in the comments.
WWE Hall of Famer and one of the greatest play by play commentators in the history of the game has some high praise for the bout between Ricochet and Velveteen Dream from last night’s NXT Takeover: Chicago event.
Jim Ross took to Twitter to express his love for the match between the two NXT Superstars, stating that “It’s any announcers dream to broadcast a match the level of @KingRicochet & @VelveteenWWE at #NXTChicago.” Good Ol’ JR went on to give extra special mention to the potential of the Velveteen Dream, claiming that “Considering his lack of experience, Dream can be truly spectacular for years to come.“
Opinion: There are persistent rumors that Velveteen Dream is due for a call up to the main roster of WWE in the near future. Dream’s stellar bouts in his short time for NXT has gained him some proponents in the company’s top brass and his bout against Ricochet will do him no harm at all.
It’s any announcers dream to broadcast a match the level of @KingRicochet & @VelveteenWWE at #NXTChicago
‘Limitless’ Keith Lee appeared during last night’s NXT Takeover: Chicago broadcast and was seen in the crowd during the event. The former EVOLVE/PROGRESS star took to Twitter to offer some comments following his appearance, you can check these out below:
PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks is one of the 8 men that will be heading to the Royal Albert Hall next Monday 18th hoping to advance to the finals of the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament. The shows on Monday and Tuesday are being taped to appear on the WWE Network the following week.
Banks defeated UK veteran El Ligero to advance to a bout against Ashton Smith in the Quarter Finals and he has his sights set on challenging Pete Dunne on the second night of the Royal Albert Hall tapings for the UK Championship. You can hear Banks’ thoughts in the short video below.
Opinion: Banks originally won his PROGRESS World Title against Pete Dunne after an incredible match at Alexandra Palace in London, England. To see these two in the ring again would be a treat but it is highly likely that Zack Gibson or ‘Flash’ Morgan Webster are going to the final and taking home the trophy before meeting Dunne on day 2. With the way that the brackets have been laid out Banks would avoid both men until the final so there is a very good chance that he makes it all the way and gets beaten at the final hurdle.
PROGRESS has officially announced that the finals of the fifth Natural Progression Series will be taking place at Chapter 72 ‘Got Got Need’ on June 24th from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.
Aussie Open tag team member Mark Davis will be facing Chris Ridgeway to determine the fifth winner of the now prestigious tournament. PROGRESS introduced the tournament back in 2013 with 205 Live Superstar Mark Andrews being the inaugural winner, he went on to cash in his opportunity at a PROGRESS title of his choosing against Rampage Brown and gained his first (and only) PROGRESS World Title.
Opinion: The general consensus within the PROGRESS faithful is that Chris Ridgeway will win the tournament, he is one of the best technically gifted and underrated talents on the UK scene right now and he is set to headline in a bout against KENOH for Frontline Wrestling’s debut show ‘Build Me an Empire.’ Mark Davis is also a star on the rise however with his match for the PROGRESS Tag Team titles set for Wembley Arena it is likely that he and Kyle Fletcher of Aussie Open get their first run with the belts started on that megashow.
#Chapter72: This year's #NPS has unearthed some genuine breakthrough stars – the last two men remaining battle it out to win the tournament and earn a title shot of their choosing that can be cashed in at any time! @chrisXriddy vs @DUNKZILLADavis next Sunday at #GotGotNeed! pic.twitter.com/jPP00NcagD
— PROGRESS Wrestling (@ThisIs_Progress) June 16, 2018
Fight Club: Pro has announced a three day residency in London’s Bush Hall music venue that will be taking place on Tuesday 28th August to Thursday 30th.
The three days will see the company host 6 daytime training seminars with 3 stacked evening events taking place on all three nights. No official bouts have yet been announced for the evening events however the promotional material for ‘Project London’ show WWE UK signed Superstars Pete Dunne, Tyler Bate, Trent Seven and Travis Banks as well as New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Will Ospreay and UK independent star Chris Brookes.
This follows the already stellar lineup for FCP’s upcoming International Tekkers show which will feature the following bouts:
In a FIRST TIME EVER match inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate will be facing former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. It is incredible to think that these two standouts have never faced one on one in the squared circle but Fight Club: Pro is making it happen.
FCP has also announced that WWE UK roster member Jordan Devlin will be taking on Dragon Gate’s Naoki Tanizaki. The Dragon Gate veteran will be taking part in a run across the UK shore sagainst the likes of Mark Haskins (Frontline Puro) and Chris Brookes (RIPTIDE) and this bout against Devlin should be dynamite.
This August we are returning to London and in conjunction with @Bushhallmusic present three days of Wrestling excellence.
From Tue 28th – Thur 30th Aug we will take up residence in the historic venue and provide a series of 6 daytime training seminars & 3 stacked evening events. pic.twitter.com/9eA99aHBNm
New Japan Pro Wrestling saw one of the greatest main events in the history of the company last Saturday when Kenny Omega defeated Kazuchika Okada to become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Omega’s longtime tag team partner Kota Ibushi was ringside for the bout and he recently gave his thoughts on the incredible ‘7 Star Bout.’
Ibushi stated that “the moment he won I was delighted. I wanted to congratulate him from the bottom of my heart but a few seconds later I was thinking ‘why aren’t I in this ring having wrestled tonight?’ I wasn’t booked. It felt weird. Honestly, I was thinking ‘what am I even doing here?’”
The former Junior Heavyweight went on to “It’s easy to think he’s going to keep moving forward and we’re going to move apart. But tranquilo. Asssen na ya. People can think that but I just have to get results and that starts in the G1.”
Ibushi has also been confirmed for the upcoming ‘All In’ event which takes on September 1, 2018, at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. His opponent for the show has not yet been named.
PROGRESS Wrestling has announced that their World Cup winner Chuck Mambo will be cashing in his guaranteed title shot against the top dog in the company…
Mambo will be facing PROGRESS World Champion Travis Banks at Chapter 72 ‘Got Got Need’ which takes place June 24th from the Electric Ballroom in Camden, London.
This will be the single biggest match in Mambo’s PROGRESS career thus far, the beloved star has been featured on the PROGRESS undercard on the past several years and he has cultivated a huge cult following which has driven him to this Championship opportunity.
Travis Banks has seen his stock raised exponentially over the past few weeks, the man who describes himself as the ‘Big Kiwi’ recently signed on for the WWE United Kingdom Championship tournament and overcame El Ligero in the opening round. The New Zealand born performer will now be featured on the WWE Network special which takes place from the historic Royal Albert Hall on June 25th.
UK based promotion Fight Club: Pro has announced that WWE United Kingdom Champion Pete Dunne will be on hand for their upcoming ‘International Tekkers’ event on Friday June 29th from the Starworks Warehouse in Wolverhampton, England.
The WWE Superstar will be defending his PWRevolver Tag Team Championship alongside Millie McKenzie against the Besties In The World.
FCP are beginning to shape up ‘International Tekkers’ and there are some massive bouts already announced:
In a FIRST TIME EVER match inaugural WWE United Kingdom Champion Tyler Bate will be facing former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay. It is incredible to think that these two standouts have never faced one on one in the squared circle but Fight Club: Pro is making it happen.
FCP has also announced that WWE UK roster member Jordan Devlin will be taking on Dragon Gate’s Naoki Tanizaki. The Dragon Gate veteran will be taking part in a run across the UK shore sagainst the likes of Mark Haskins (Frontline Puro) and Chris Brookes (RIPTIDE) and this bout against Devlin should be dynamite.
WWE linked Superstar WALTER has also been announced for the June 29th event, the former PROGRESS ATLAS and wXw Unified World Champion does not yet have an opponent named but with the wealth of stars available Internationally right now he should be matched with someone stellar.
?MATCH ANNOUNCEMENT?
After an impressive @Fightclubpro debut we would have been truly mad to not have them back.
They will face the team that won their @PWRevolver Tag Team Championships…
World of Sport (WoS) recently held television tapings at Norwich’s EPIC Studios for their new ‘reboot’ of the iconic brand. Several of the UK’s top independent stars were brought in for the shows which are likely to be broadcast on prime time in the United Kingdom in July.
As the talent were performing for a broadcast company (ITV) they were signed to a ‘collective bargaining agreement’ which essentially treats them as television actors, the com. The Wrestling Observer claimed that the performers on hand “adhered to the rules of the Equity UK/ITV agreement, and used the terms used primarily for those on soap operas on ITV. The Equity union negotiated the minimum rate through collective bargaining. The talent was able and was encouraged to negotiate above the minimum.”
The following stars have contracted by ITV to feature on the new 10-part show: Will Ospreay, Davey boy Jr, Grado, Moose, Primate, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby, Iestyn Rees, Viper, Kay Lee Ray, Bea Priestley, Sha Samuels, Doug Williams, Rampage Brown, Lionheart, Nathan Cruz, Kip Sabian, Robbie X, Adam Maxted, Gabriel Kidd, CJ Banks and Liam Slater.
The idea of wrestling performers being ‘unionised’ has been a hot topic across the industry for many years. It is interesting to see how this (seemingly) small turn of events could affect other promotions across the country and potentially the World.
Over The Top (OTT) Wrestling has announced the first three bouts for their upcoming WrestleRama 2 event. The show takes place Saturday August 18th from The Arena in Suir Road Dublin, Ireland.
Arguably the biggest announcement sees one of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s best Junior Division talents KUSHIDA make his debut in Ireland against MLW Champion Shane Strickland. The other two announced bouts at this time see Ringkampf stable member Timothy Thatcher face ‘The Cream in Your Coffee’ David Starr and New Japan Pro Wrestling legend and holder of the Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship Tomohiro Ishii challenge former UFC fighter and PROGRESS ATLAS Champion Matt Riddle.
Other names already confirmed for the event on August 18th include WWE linked star WALTER, WWE UK Superstar Jordan Devlin, ‘Session Moth’ Martina and Mark Haskins.
Tickets for the show will be available to purchase as of Friday June 15th, information can be found via the tweet below.
Pro Wrestling: EVE has announced the first match for their upcoming ‘Slayers in Spandex’ event which takes place on Saturday July 14th from the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green, London.
Mae Young Classic competitor and one of the finest performers on the UK circuit Kay Lee Ray will be facing up and coming star Killer Kelly. Kelly has been one of the standout performers from Westside Xtreme Wrestling’s (wXw) Women’s division for the past few years having put on clinics with the likes of Veda Scott, Melanie Gray and WWE linked Toni Storm.
Pro Wrestling: EVE is the premier all female promotion in Europe and they have been blazing a trail giving Women’s wrestling a platform on the World stage. The company has seen mainstream media attention in the United Kingdom with the likes of the BBC, The Independent, Kerrang and Metro featuring the brand in their publications to millions of readers. You can find EVE’s growing On Demand service here.